shirokuma-san-no-ie (home of the white bear) is ten years old

The Home of the White Bear Annex: Biwa - no - ie Our Big Tree in the Laetare Community Christmas gift outside the entrance The sitting room at Christmas "Beneath the Tree of Kindness" "the boy became sick" "the boy stayed at a Family Home" Sister Sugiura with staff and volunteers from the Family House during a bazaar at the Sacred Heart University in Tokyo

It is just ten years since Dr. Asano of Todai Ikaken Hospital requested the use of the small unoccupied house next to Laetare Community to accommodate families of children who came to Tokyo to be hospitalized for treatment of their incurable sicknesses, and the house began as such. (The house name comes from the White Bear look of Dr. Asano.) Once upon a time the house was occupied by Sisters Sheehy, Morimura and Shinjo. Sister Kimura put all her heart and energy into the management of Shirokuma-san-no-ie for more than five years. Since Sister Kimura became sick two years ago, a team of six from the married women's group of Takanawa Parish Church has taken over the work of house managers in response to the call from the administrator NPO Family House. The team looks after maintenance, operation, etc. In the team were Sacred Heart Alumnae and since I knew them, I became the link person between the team and the Society.

The head of the team, Fujita Hiroko, and the rest of the house managers are truly committed to looking after the occupants. Being mothers and housewives, these house managers are quick to notice where their services are needed and their heart-warming personality and excellent teamwork are very much appreciated. The old house is kept clean and cozy. Sometimes mothers of sick children (suffering from cancer, leukemia, retinoblastoma, etc.) are accompanied by other youngsters. Besides getting rooms ready for their arrival, they need to be fetched so that two of the team have to be working. The house managers keep close contact, using cars, cell phones and e-mail. The Home is usually occupied and sometimes a separate house "Biwa-no-ie" too is used. When the Home happens to be unoccupied, one or the other of the team members put out futons to be aired, clean air conditioners, weed around the house and plant flowers. All communication is done through e-mail and each one has all the information. There is a meeting once a month at Laetare.

Family House hosted a thanksgiving reunion on June 26. There are other accommodations made possible by people of good will. I learned that for the founding of Family House itself, Dr. Ohira, former pediatrician of National Cancer Center and the former director of NPO Family House, and Sr. Kathleen Reiley (Maryknoll), who gave a talk at the reunion, went through a great deal of work. Among the cooperators and volunteers, there are many Sacred Heart graduates, parents and friends. One of them is letting one room in her house for accommodating mothers of hospitalized children. Sakazume-san, who gave a concert, was a student of Seishin from the primary school through college. Both the White Bear's Home and the Biwa-no-ie are old houses. When there is such a great need for places to stay, with committed house managers and other volunteers, I earnestly hope our Province would continue to offer the use of buildings in order to save young lives.

Many availed themselves of the facilities at "Shirokua-san" and Biwa-no-ie. Users say that they feel the warmth and restfulness as if they were at home. When there are a number of well-equipped modern facilities, their appreciation may be due to the warmth that comes from our Japanese style houses which make them forget their mental and physical fatigue of caring for their children at least during their sleep. It may also be due to the rich green, which they enjoy going to and from the hospital, away from crowded streets.

We six members of the house-managing staff were a bit anxious in the beginning. The first thing that we noticed was how the young mothers accept their realities and are bravely nursing their children. Those who happen to live in the Home are strangers but they are concerned for one another and cooperate with one another, which makes us grateful for the chance of serving in such a place.

We consulted among ourselves how to make living in the Home pleasant as if we ourselves were living in it. There was no end to our ideas: repapering paper screens, changing curtains, rearranging or replacing furniture, creating flower beds, etc., etc. To put these ideas into practice, we have the cooperation on both spiritual and material sides of many supporting members. Our husbands and sons volunteer for heavy work. All these have encouraged us very much.

In late autumn of 2002 when we had gotten used more or less to the operation of the Home, it was decided that the mother and family of a Thai student were coming for a long-term stay at Biwa-no-ie. We worried about problems arising from differences in living customs and the language and we got into a panic. Fortunately a volunteer who can speak Thai helped and the visitors became used to ways of life here surprisingly fast. When they left six months later, the interior of Biwa-no-ie had taken on a brighter appearance with all the artifacts that they had made to pass their free time.

There were many unforeseen happenings too: a sick child had to be hospitalized suddenly and had to be accompanied in the ambulance, in cold winter with the wind coming in through cracks extra futons had to be carried in, a short circuit when too much electricity was used, five members of a family suddenly appearing so that they had to sleep packed like sardines, someone had forgotten to take out the house key, not being able to meet people to be fetched, etc. They happened in early morning or late at night. With experiences we have learned the importance of welcome with ease and peace of mind.

We rejoiced or we became sad in different situations. Some patients left the hospital after successful treatments, some were discharged temporarily, while others died after long months of illness. Each one of them leaves something in our hearts. It is our daily experience that God is showing us many things through these encounters.

We are very happy to go about our services with Sister Sugiura of Laetare Community attentive to smallest details, the person in charge of Social Welfare Department of Mikokoro-kai (Alumnae of the Sacred Heart  School in Tokyo) who attends our monthly meeting. New staff members joined us from July. We hope to be able to reminisce with Sister Kimura about the last ten years.

Fujita Hiroko+
Chief House Manager
White Bear?s Home

FAMILY HOUSE 2-4-19, Higashij-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0031 TEL. 03-5825-2931      FAX 03-5825-2935 URL http://www.familyhouse.or.jp/